Flexible and miniaturized microscope for three dimensionnal measurements

In three dimensional measurement systems, two properties are generally difficult to maximize simultaneously: compactness and measurement accuracy. Compactness can be obtained with miniaturized opto-electronic devices such as small cameras. However, quality (resolution, frame-rate, signal to noise ratio...) of these small devices is lower than standard sized ones. In this paper an alternative configuration is described where the opto-electronic devices are not miniaturized but optically connected to small probes through image guides. Instrumental description of this system is detailed and a measurement result is finally presented.